BCHL

Warriors earn point, pull even with Vees

Action inside the Vernon end of the rink Saturday during the Vipers 3-2 double overtime win over the Warriors

Courtesy of Jon Zacks

“I’ve never played a more tiring game in my life” stammered Matt Anholt after a 3-2 double overtime loss in Vernon on Saturday.

The Warriors captain knows his team was within a heartbeat of a rare victory in Vernon. Leading the Vipers by five points heading into the evening, Anholt also knows how invaluable a regulation win would have been.

Given the circumstances, however, Anholt insists that he’s proud of the character shown by his team, and also happy with a key single point.

With just 10 forwards and five defencemen to start the evening, the Warriors earned a 2-0 lead after a dominant opening period.

Braden Pears opened the scoring with a power-play marker seven minutes in. Seb Lloyd soon doubled the lead when he converted a David Pope rebound.

Up 2-0, the Warriors had a chance to extend the lead when Liam Coughlin was assessed a major penalty (and a game misconduct) for hitting Pears from behind late in the first.

Pears would return later in the game sporting seven stitches and a broken nose, while the Warriors power-play failed to make the Vipers pay.

A Tyler Povelofskie breakaway strike would get Vernon back within one in the second period, setting up a nailbiting third.

With six-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation time, the Vipers got in further trouble when Colton Sparrow was ejected for hitting Taki Pantziris from behind.

However, a second major penalty kill kept Vernon alive, while West Kelowna’s bench continued to thin.

Already missing Jordan Masters, Nathan Craft, Brett Mennear, Ryan Ivey, and Ryan Fraser-Lee heading in, the Warriors faced further adversity with Pantziris knocked out of action by Sparrow’s hit, while Ben Tegtmeyer was also knocked out of the game.

Down to three regular defencemen, the Warriors were within 12 seconds of victory when Viper Dexter Dancs converted a goal-mouth scramble on a late power-play.

Vernon then took the extra point when Dancs set up a Riley Guenther one-timer 3:34 into 3-on-3 double overtime.

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